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Comments Air travel was a major theme last week, starting with the news that the US is to require those travelling under the Visa Waiver Program to register their details at least 72 hours prior to leaving for the States. At present citizens of participant countries can enter the US without first obtaining a visa, but from January next year pre-reg will be mandatory. You lot took the opportunity for a good moan:

Just a few more of these stupid regulations and no one will want to fly to the US. Then we can close their boarders and stop the arrogant buggers from coming out.

Anonymous Coward

I think it's a problem with Merkin pronounciation ... they heard "War on Terrorism" as "War on Tourism".

Ralph B

"Previously, the consensus was that the little paper entry cards you filled out on arrival in the US were sent to a physical warehouse and consigned to oblivion."

It is a widely believed fact that those cards are mashed down, mixed with water, and used to repair the scorch marks that keep appearing on the box containing the Ark of the Covenant.

I thought everyone knew that?

Mines the one with the snakes - why did it have to be snakes - in the pockets.

Steven R

I don't think Oz is so paranoid about Terrorists, but you just try to get into the country with mud on your boots!!

I like the Visa scheme they have in Turkey. Fly into Istanbul airport, pay £10, have the nice man stick a visa into you passport and stamp it no questions asked.

You may be a terrorist but a slightly poorer terrorist, Capitalism at it's best.

RainForestGuppy

Overreaction maybe? And I’m not talking about the US measures; I’m talking about most of the posters here. Virtually everyone buys their ticket more than three days in advance, so for most it surely isn’t a problem.

So you have to give your name, passport number and place you’re staying in the US on a form that takes a couple of minutes to fill out.

Sure, so many hoops to go through! Obviously a much greater effort than lugging the kids around Disneyworld for two weeks would have been.

So much anti-US feeling might just breed a little paranoia in Homeland Security.

Anonymous Coward

But it's not just the Yanks inconveniencing travellers willy-nilly. Our own state-of-the-art new airport terminal has thrown up another gaffe, after a security guard told a man he could not board a plane while wearing a transformers t-shirt. Many of you argued that this crime against taste fully justified the rentaplod's actions, but there was also plenty of outrage. We begin with something appropriately geeky:

Don't these people know their transformers? As pointed out, that's Optimus Prime - leader of the Heroic Autobots.

Now, if it had been Megatron, they may have had cause for alarm.

Alternatively, they got confused about what sort of Transformers they were and thought that it was one of the exploding data-centre powering ones.

Anonymous Coward

It's like this. Some security guy makes an idiot of themselves by making a really stupid decision or saying something outrageous. They won't back down as they'll lose face. The supervisor is called over and as the security guy is their friend and colleague they're unlikely to say the initial action were the actions of a loopy loop. They then defend the action using further dubious excuses and so the chain of idiocy continues right up to the top if necessary.

u235

next time I board a flight I'll be wearing a t-shirt with a smoking shoe on it, or perhaps a cartoon box cutter.

This has got to the point of stupidity now. Basically, you pay through the nose to board a flight and are then treated as a potential criminal and subjected to being treated like cattle.

"Please leave your human rights at the door when you board this flight"

Matt

What if the rude word is in a language that the jobs-worth doesn't understand? Surely to cover that possibility any t-shirt with any text, icons or glyphs should also be banned?

Stupid rules for implementation by stupid people.

Nomen Publicus

This guy is pretty lucky it wasn't megatron with his ball & chain weapon on his T-shirt instead as he would have been charged as a extreme porn abuser & placed on a sex offenders list by now!